South Lakes Seeks To Avenge Season-Ending Loss To Westfield

By BRIAN McNICOLL

One might think that the way the last two weeks have gone, the South Lakes High football Seahawks would be a little concerned going into the regular-season finale Friday night at home against Westfield.

The Seahawks, now 5-4 overall, have dropped their last two games and now stand at 2-2 in the Concorde District. They’ve locked up a playoff spot, but they’ve fallen 49-16 to Madison and 49-35 to Centreville in their most recent two games, and Westfield (6-3, 3-1) played Centreville close and actually defeated Madison.

But that’s not the vibe one gets from Seahawks Coach Jason Hescock. “We’re really excited to play this game,” Hescock said. “We’re excited for an all-systems check before the playoffs, and we see this as a pretty evenly matched game.”

Hescock said the Madison loss “wasn’t us. That’s now how we play.” The Seahawks led 16-14 after one quarter in that game and were set to go into the lockerroom down only 20-14 before the Warhawks turned a late punt snap mishap into a touchdown on the last play of the first half.

Down 28-16, the Seahawks let things snowball and ended up allowing three more touchdowns and managing minus-7 total yards on offense.

That wasn’t the story at all against Centreville. Against the most explosive offense in Northern Virginia, South Lakes was tied 35-35 in the fourth quarter after Nick Picarelli’s 38-yard touchdown run on a double reverse. But the Wildcats’ explosive offense enabled them to wriggle off the hook and add two touchdowns for the victory.

“There’s stuff to clean up … there always is,” Hescock said. “And it’s tough managing the ebbs and flows of the game. But I’m really excited about what all this has set us up to do. I’m excited to get on the field with Westfield and to see what lies beyond that.”

Last year, Westfield scored three touchdowns in the game’s first 10 minutes and rolled to a 49-21 victory. Christian Wyatt didn’t throw a pass in that game. Picarelli had one catch for 31 yards. Dalton Blakeney rushed for 13 yards and a touchdown on four carries.

The Bulldogs are largely retooled this year, but Malachi Lee, the sophomore who ran for 114 yards and four touchdowns against South Lakes last year, returns averaging about 80 yards per game.

“He’s a good deceptive back, runs well behind his pads,” Hescock said.

This Friday night, they must carry the load, Hescock said. “The Big Three of our offense have to have a big game,” Hescock said. “Our offensive line has to be clean. Our defense has to be clean and where they’re supposed to be. Our linebackers – Logan Legler and Colin Wall – have to have a big game.We can do it, but we need everyone to have a good game.”

There’s also the matter of special teams. Westfield is one of the best in the area at scoring points and forcing mistakes on special teams. In last year’s game, the Bulldogs opened the second half with a long return to set up a touchdown and kept Picarelli pinned in on kickoff returns.

“You have to be ready for anything with them,” Hescock said.

The top four teams in the Concorde District advance and will play the top four from the Liberty District. If South Lakes wins, it will finish third. If the Seahawks lose, they would be fourth. Yorktown already has won the Liberty District and does not play in Week 10, which means a loss would set up a rematch of South Lakes’ 29-28 opening-game victory over the Patriots – only this time in Arlington, not Reston.

But for now, the focus is on Westfield. “It’s been a great week,” Hescock said. “Now we need to start fast and keep everything clean.”